Old Goats: A Local Tale of Idle Geezers

Taylor Guterson, son of the local novelist David Guterson, turns an affectionate eye on Northwest geezer-dom in this gentle comedy about the indignities of aging, which debuted at SIFF 2011. Meeting at a weekly coffee klatch for Bainbridge's over-70 set (no girls allowed!), three old goats from different social strata develop an unlikely friendship. One's a married, golf-playing, sportscar-driving businessman recently forced into retirement. Another is a salty octogenarian World War II vet and (still) devoted womanizer. The third is a shy bachelor car mechanic, just fired, who lives on a squalid sailboat in Eagle Harbor. Theirs is the common tragedy—mainly played for laughs—of losing one's vocation, one's purpose in life. There's talk of sailing adventures, online dating, and a condo in Palm Springs, but these three live in common terror of the question, "What's next for you?" They know damn well what's next! And they're determined to avoid it for as long as possible. Likewise, Old Goats meanders along at an unhurried pace; it's an authentic slice of Northwest regionalism not often seen on-screen—one that also doesn't insist on cute resolutions or easy triumphs. When a duck-hunting trip proves hopeless, one guy declares, "Why don't we just get a chicken at Costco?" Works for me.

From left, old goats Britt Crossley, Bob Burkholder, and David Vanderwal.